Gm Goes To Bat For 6 Bat Boys

HUNTSVILLE, ALA. — A minor league baseball team is considering firing its six bat boys after a disgruntled parent filed a complaint with the state alleging the club is violating child labor laws.

The general manager of the Southern League`s Huntsville Stars, David Demonbreun, said a father apparently made the claim after his son did not win a spot as a bat boy this season.

Demonbreun declined to name the man, but said the youth was a bat boy for the club last year.

``He`s trying to hurt the Stars, but what he`s really doing is hurting six young men who`ve worked very hard this summer,`` said the first-year general manager.

Wolfgang Trammell, an inspector who reviewed the case for the state child labor division, said the Stars were in apparent violation of state laws that prohibit children younger than 16 from working past 9 p.m.

The Stars have six bat boys for 1990, all 14 or 15 years old, and Southern League games routinely go as late as 10:30 p.m.

``If that ruling stands, we`ll have to release all of our bat boys,``

said Demonbreun.

But, he said, the Double-A club won`t give up without a fight.

``We`ll go to court to try and obtain a court order that says we`re not in violation of the spirit of the law. We`re trying to do what we can because we want to keep this group of guys and save their jobs,`` he said.

Trammell said the state`s other Southern League club, the Birmingham Barons, also is violating the law and could lose all 14 of its bat boys, who range in age from 11 to 14.